Spring and summer would not be complete without the buzz of bees and the delicate beauty of butterflies. These fascinating creatures are among a richly diverse group of insect pollinators – including hoverflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles – that play a crucial role in helping the majority of plants, including many of our food crops, produce seeds and fruits.
Pollinators also help create the diversity of wild plants and habitats that support the UK’s wildlife, resilience and natural beauty. In turn, these insects themselves are an important source of food for birds, bats and frogs.
Sadly over recent years populations of pollinators have been dramatically declining, for reasons including loss of habitat, pesticide use, pollution, pests and diseases. The most prominent threat, though, is posed by climate change, as changes in water and temperature can lower the quality and quantity of resources and suitable habitats accessible to pollinators and affect the ability of larvae and adults to survive. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/10.1079/cabireviews.2024.0016
Climate change and the drop in the health and populations of bees and other pollinators are threatening biodiversity, food security and human health and wellbeing.
One of the best ways that we can help bees, beetles, butterflies, and other creatures that help life thrive, is by creating a welcoming habitat in the places we call home. In Westcott, we can play a particular role in a nationwide project developed by Buglife to help pollinators – B-Lines – ‘an imaginative and beautiful solution to the loss of flowers and pollinators’.
What are B-Lines?
B-Lines are ‘insect pathways’ running through our countryside and towns, creating a series of wildflower-rich habitat stepping stones. They link existing wildlife areas together, creating a network, that weaves across the UK landscape. This will provide large areas of habitat specifically aimed at benefiting bees and butterflies– whilst also encouraging a host of other wildlife too.
Westcott falls within one of these B-Lines and so we are encouraging everyone to ditch pesticides and grow an array of plants to attract insect pollinators to our planters, gardens and verges to allow them to thrive and migrate through our village and beyond!
Insect pollinators & how to help them
Most pollination in the UK is performed by bees (wild solitary bees and bumblebees, as well as domesticated honeybees), flies (including hoverflies and bee-flies), butterflies, moths, wasps and beetles.
Domesticated honeybees are estimated to account for around 5-15% of the UK’s insect pollinated crops, but can outcompete and negatively impact native bees, especially when appropriate food sources are in short supply. https://www.xerces.org/blog/want-to-save-bees-focus-on-habitat-not-honey-bees Therefore, it is particularly important to provide habitat and plants to support native bees, and other wild insects, that help pollinate the other 85-95%. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/savingbees
Leaving areas of gardens undisturbed, hedgerows, rotting wood and compost heaps – can all provide suitable nesting sites for bees. Putting pebbles at the edge of bird baths or ponds can give them a platform from which to drink water.
Around a quarter of the UK’s 4,000 native beetle species are pollinators. Delaying cutting back dried stems of plants until spring can provide nurseries for baby beetles. https://earthwatch.org.uk/blog/the-different-types-of-pollinators-and-why-we-need-them/
In the UK we have lost 97% of our wildflower meadows since the second world war, due in large part to changing farming practices and land development for building projects. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/meadows-matter Avoiding cutting areas of lawn and allowing daisies, clover and dandelions to grow undisturbed is hugely beneficial for insects.
The humble dandelion supports over 50 different species including solitary bees, bumble bees, hoverflies, beetles and butterflies like the peacock and holly blue. Importantly, dandelions flower from late March when many insects are emerging from hibernation and provide a vital source of early food. The fluffy seed heads are also enjoyed by birds such as goldfinches and sparrows. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2015/may/12/dandelions-pollinators-wildlife-garden
Flowers for pollinators
Diversity and simplicity are key for best supporting a wide range of pollinators. Prioritising a mix of food, herbs and native plants over purely decorative, showy plants (that often have complicated petal forms which make it hard for insects to access pollen) will help to encourage beneficial insects.
Good plants for pollinators include: apple trees, aster, beans, birds foot trefoil, comfrey, evening primrose, foxglove, grape hyacinth, hawthorn, lavender, mint, nasturtium, oregano, pumpkin/squash, red valerian, scabious, sunflower, thyme, verbena.
Westcott Community Garden will be one of a number of open gardens on Sunday, June 15th for the ‘Westcott Open Gardens’ event. www.greenwestcott.org/westcott-open-gardens Of course, the community garden is always open to all, but on that Sunday we will also be promoting the B-Lines project and will hopefully have plenty of pollinator-friendly plants available for people to take back home to help create our B-Line network to benefit these crucial insects.